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Publishers’ Forum 2014

Speakers 2014

CVs and Abstracts

Please note: As the conference program offers a complete range of presentations and workshops in both German and English held at the same time, information about English-speaking speakers and their presentations below is in English; information about German-speaking speakers and their presentations below is in German.

Presentations

If presentation slides are available they have been added to the information of the speaker (below) who delivered the presentation – indicated in red.

We managed to record many of the plenary presentations (although with some sound issues). You can watch the videos in the “Presentations” section of this website.

Porter Anderson, Journalist, Speaker, Consultant, USA

Porter Anderson / @Porter_Anderson, BA, MA, MFA, is a journalist, speaker, and consultant in publishing’s digital disruption. His “Porter Anderson Meets” newsmaker interview is read in London’s The Bookseller and conducted live on Twitter (#PorterMeets). His #EtherIssue column and live discussion are produced for the Publishing Perspectives site of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Anderson’s earlier outlets have included CNN International, The Village Voice, the UN World Food Programme in Rome, and INDEX in Copenhagen.

“Publishing’s Cold War: Traditional vs. Self-Publishing? Or Something In-between?”
Among authors, there is now an important question: Do I pursue a traditional publishing contract or do I go it alone? Or is there something in-between? There are a myriad of models available to authors today, from Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing to agent-led imprints to entrepreneurial enterprises within traditional publishing structures. In a broad and deep discussion, journalists Edward Nawotka and Porter Anderson will use real-world examples to explicate and explore several of these emerging avenues toward publication. They will look at the impact self-publishing is having on the global industry as a whole, offer ideas for best practices, and look how established publishers can best engage in this evolving and exciting marketplace.

Graham Bell, EDItEUR, UK

Graham Bell was appointed as Executive Director of EDItEUR in 2014, after four years as its Chief Data Architect. He is focussed on the continuing development and application of EDItEUR’s suite of trade standards for the global book, e-book and serials supply chains, and on the management services EDItEUR supplies to the International ISBN, ISTC and ISNI agencies. As EDItEUR’s Chief Data Architect, he was responsible for continued development of ONIX for Books, and on other EDItEUR standards for both the book and serials sectors.
Graham previously worked for HarperCollins Publishers in the UK where most recently he was Head of Publishing Systems. He led the development of bibliographic and digital asset management systems, and was involved with the launches of many HarperCollins digital initiatives including e-audio, e-books and print-on-demand programmes. Prior to HarperCollins, he worked as an editor and in IT roles within the magazine industry with Redwood Publishing and BBC Magazines.

“Latest News from EDitEUR:about ISNI, Thema, ONIX, metadata, plus ‘ask me everything'”
The workshop will provide a review of recent developments:
— new identifiers like ISNI (and perhaps ISTC, but that seems not to have very much traction)
— new subject schemes like Thema (which is being adopted enthusiastically by VLB, for example)
— new additions to ONIX (specifically ONIX 3.0, with a consideration of the issues that surround migration from one to another, and a look at the things that can be included in ONIX 3.0.2 but not in 2.1 — things like e-book usage restrictions and open access licensing, for example)
— new metadata that retailers want from publishers (tables of contents, keyword collections…)
— an extensive Q&A session, and encouragement to ask questions as we go along. A workshop should be as interactive as possible, so ‘ask me anything’.

Francis Bennett, Yale University Press, USA

Francis Bennett is Deputy Chairman of Yale University Press. After graduating from Cambridge, he joined Collins in 1967, moving in 1973 to the Hutchinson Group. He was Managing Director of WH Allen in 1977, of Sphere Books in 1979, and Group Managing Director of Thomson Books in 1981. In 1987, he became co-founder and Managing Director of Book Data. He retired as Chairman in 2006.

Panel “State of Publishing 2020”
Each panel member will be asked to give a positioning statement, which will then be extended into his personal vision of the future. This will be followed by a Q/A session probably covering issues like:
Is self- publishing the future, and if so, what is the publisher’s role?
Are literary agents and Amazon fatally undermining the Big Five in consumer publishing?
Are social media the marketplace for recommendation and purchasing of all types?
Do we accept in global markets that territoriality, and attempts to control IP in the network,need to be replaced by new concepts? What are they likely to be?
In a networked world, with 3 billion participants today, will the book as a concept and format retain its place, or will we create different formats for networked entertainment and learning?
What will be the importance of brand in 2020 / Author brand, publisher/university press quality brand etc?
Will channel be important in 2020? And how will we try to control the channels through which we deliver value to our customers?

Panel “State of Publishing 2020” – information provided by Francis Bennett
Francis Bennett will propose the landscape for academic publishing in 2020. University presses will no longer be subsidised. They will exist as commercial operations. Monographs will be published in e-editions only and a global standard for open access will have been agreed. Peer review will have been adapted to suit a world where access to new information is instant. Printed academic titles will be accompanied by a database of sources cited, with access to those sources available to researchers. University presses will play an important but different role in the highly competitive e-leaning universe of 2020.Read the notes for his introductory remarks provided by Francis Bennett

Béa Beste is an educational entrepreneur. She studied engineering management at the Technische Universität (Technical University) and communication at the Universität der Künste (University of Arts) in Berlin and has worked for the SAT.1 TV channel and the Boston Consulting Group. In 2005, she was one of the founders of the bilingual Phorms schools. After six years as CEO, she went on a world-wide educational expedition. Inspired by educational innovations, she developed the TOLLABOX. As part of the Chancellor’s “Dialog on Germany’s Future”, she was one of the experts who pleaded for an educational culture which helps potential unfold. Béa does voluntary work with business@school and Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship to awaken the entrepreneurial spirit in high-school students.

“Playfully Transforming Education” (Workshop)
Everybody is talking about PISA – but are we worrying about the right things?
Our children aren’t dumb. Our children are unhappy. And their parents are stressed out. A real revolution in education needs less structural reforms and more playful, relationship-oriented approaches. An educational expedition across four continents revealed successful concepts and good approaches for escaping the “education trap”. It is not simply a matter of putting boring, dry lesson content in colorful packaging, but rather awakening learners’ curiosity, sparking their interest, and integrating their natural imagination.

Baldur Bjarnason, Unbound, UK

Baldur Bjarnason handles e-production for Unbound, an award-winning online crowd-funded publisher that allows authors to pitch their book ideas directly to readers. He has made websites and interactive media since the mid-nineties, and holds a PhD on interactivity in ebooks.

“Bridging the Gap – What if ebooks aren’t an option for your customers?”
You have a back catalogue of books. Your publishing pipeline is full of books. Turning them into ebooks is getting easier and easier. But what if your customers want something that doesn’t look or work like an ebook? What if you don’t want your future to look like an ebook? What if it can’t look like an ebook, no matter how hard you try?

Andreas Blumauer, Semantic Web Company, AT

Andreas Blumauer, MSc IT studied Computer Sciences and Business Administration at the University of Vienna. Since 2004, he is managing partner of the Semantic Web Company (www.semantic-web.at) which is an internationally acknowledged provider of semantic technologies. Andreas is experienced with large-scale IT-projects in various industry sectors, and he is also responsible for the product management of PoolParty Semantic Suite. He has been a pioneer in the area of the semantic web since 2002; he is co-founder of SEMANTiCS conference series (www.semantics.cc), co-editor and editor of one of the first comprehensive books in the area of the semantic web for the German speaking community, and he gave talks about linked data, knowledge management systems, social software and semantic technologies at numerous international events. Andreas has been a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Vienna and the Danube University Krems in the areas of Knowledge Management Systems and Semantic Technologies.

“Linked Data – The End of the Document?”
The ‘document’ has been the most prominent metaphor to present information as well as being the predominant information carrier for ages. With the rise of the Semantic Web, information has been broken down to tiny pieces, which can be put in various contexts dynamically. This principle can be applied to tackle some of the most important challenges faced by publishers nowadays: the most efficient reuse of media assets and personalisation of information services. In this workshop, you will find out, why semantic web principles & linked data technologies are the key for ‘Dynamic Semantic Publishing’. Attendees will learn from best practices and get an overview over state-of-the-art technologies.Check out the presentation slides here

Richard Charkin, Bloomsbury, UK

Richard Charkin joined the Bloomsbury Board as an Executive Director in October 2007. He began his career in 1972 as Science Editor of Harrap & Co. He has since held senior roles at Pergamon Press, Oxford University Press, Reed International/Reed Elsevier, Current Science Group and has been Chief Executive Officer of Macmillan Publishers Limited and Executive Director of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck. His other publishing interests include being Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals in Doha, Non-Executive Director of the Institute of Physics Publishing, a member of the UK Literary Heritage Committee, Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London, Director of the Federation of European Publishers and Vice-President of the International Publishers Association. He was President of the Publishers Association and a non-executive director of Melbourne University Publishing. He has an MA in Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge; was a Supernumerary Fellow of Green College, Oxford; and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

“The Times They Are A’changin’”
The rate of change in global English-language publishing is increasing. We can see threats and opportunities around every corner. We can slip into a fog of pessimism, raise ourselves on a froth of optimism or find pragmatic and fascinating solutions in our industry quest to publish the best books in any medium, reward authors fairly, discover new routes to market, and stay in business.Download the presentation here

Fionnuala Duggan, Digital Media Specialist,UK

Fionnuala Duggan has over 20 years of senior publishing experience in leading global organisations, focused mainly of the growth and transition to digital media.
Until March 2014, she was International Managing Director of CourseSmart LLC, a Silicon Valley based educational technology start-up. Prior to CourseSmart, Ms. Duggan served as the Random House Group Director of Digital, where she led its digital activities, including the launch and growth of ebooks, audio-books and ecommerce, as well as further developing the digital business infrastructure to support future goals and expansion plans.
Previously, she was a Partner at Impresario Media LLP where she advised corporate and private equity clients on digital media strategies. She also served in various executive roles at EMI Recorded Music, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., and Maxwell Multi Media, among others.
Fionnuala has a BA Mod in Experimental Physics from Trinity College Dublin and an MBA from INSEAD.

“The latest developments in educational publishing and personalized learning”
The session will cover:
– the reinvention of educational publishing in the digital age
– the valuable benefits to students, teachers and institutions
– the emergence of personalisation and adaptive learning
– the role of platforms and analyticsDownload the presentation here

Dr. Sven Fund, de Gruyter, GER

Sven Fund was born in 1973. From 1994 until 2000, he studied International Relations, History, Communication in Münster, Berlin, and St. Louis, USA. He received the Master of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis in 1996, and a PhD in International Relations in 2000 from Münster University. As Senior Consultant Corporate Development he worked at Bertelsmann 2000-2003 and was Head of Point of Sale-Activities, Der Club Bertelsmann, 2003-2004. From 2004 until 2008 he worked in dofferent roles for Springer Science+Business Media. Since 2008, he is Managing Director of De Gruyter. Sven teaches library and information sciences as a guest lecturer at Humboldt University in Berlin and is a board member of CrossRef.

Panel “State of Publishing 2020”
Each panel member will be asked to give a positioning statement, which will then be extended into his personal vision of the future. This will be followed by a Q/A session probably covering issues like:
Is self- publishing the future, and if so, what is the publisher’s role?
Are literary agents and Amazon fatally undermining the Big Five in consumer publishing?
Are social media the marketplace for recommendation and purchasing of all types?
Do we accept in global markets that territoriality, and attempts to control IP in the network,need to be replaced by new concepts? What are they likely to be?
In a networked world, with 3 billion participants today, will the book as a concept and format retain its place, or will we create different formats for networked entertainment and learning?
What will be the importance of brand in 2020 / Author brand, publisher/university press quality brand etc?
Will channel be important in 2020? And how will we try to control the channels through which we deliver value to our customers?

Since 2013, Harald Greiner has been the Global Director Professional Services for the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, where he is responsible for the reorganized shared service organization GTS.
After studying business administration in Stuttgart, he spent 7 years working as a consulting in the publishing industry.
In the course of his two years on the Managing Board at portal service provider UP2Gate – a Siemens company – he acquired a wealth of experience in the Internet realm. In 2003, Greiner moved to Siemens Business Services in Munich, where he was responsible for business development in the media branch in Germany. From 2006 on, he was Director Business Development Media for the international media activities of Siemens IT Solutions and Services (later acquired by Atos).Download the presentation here

“The Role of IT and IT Strategy in the Decentralized Organization of a Publishing House” (Presentation)
Using the example of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the presentation will provide an overview of those areas of the company which formed the basis of the transformation from a divisional to a global organizational structure, as well as the implementation of the IT strategy and its impact on the IT department.
IT and sourcing strategies will be covered in detail, along with the organization and orientation of IT service centers.

Hugh Howey, Author, USA

Hugh Howey is the New York Times bestselling author of WOOL and the silo saga. He has written over a dozen novels, which have sold nearly 2 million copies. As an advocate for writers and independent publishing, he has become a spokesman for the changes in the book industry. Prior to writing, Hugh worked as a yacht captain, delivering private vessels from South America to Canada and throughout the Caribbean. He moved ashore to be with his wife and worked in bookstores while chasing his dream of becoming a full time writer. He now lives in Jupiter, Florida.

“What Self Publishing Teaches Publishers”
By my count, half of the top 10 bestselling science fiction authors on Amazon right now are self-published or published with Amazon. What really strikes me about the top 10 is the absence of any new traditionally published science fiction author. This means something, I’m just not sure what. I think it means that a sustained and profitable career as a science fiction author is more likely, these days, to have its origin in self-publishing. I don’t think traditional publishers can foster the sort of release schedule an author needs to really break out in a big way in the popular genres. It should be noted that an author can rank on this list with a single bestselling title, as with Rysa Walker, who has a title in the top 25. So a massive new release could crack this list. Right now, we aren’t seeing that from the big houses. Part of the problem is that the major publishers ignore the genres that sell the best. This is a head-scratcher, and it nearly caused a bald spot when I was working in a bookstore. I knew where the demand was, and I wasn’t seeing it in the catalogs. Readers wanted romance, science fiction, mystery/thrillers, and young adult. We had catalogs full of literary fiction. Just the sort of thing acquiring editors are looking for and hoping people will read more of, but not what customers were asking me for. Here’s how I would blow the doors off my competitors and become the #1 publisher in the land (overtaking indies, which I estimate now rank #1 in total sales)…
Go to http://www.hughhowey.com/dont-anyone-put-me-in-charge/ to read Hugh’s 13 suggestions.

Jens Klingelhöfer, Bookwire, D

Jens Klingelhöfer is managing director and co-founder (2009) of the internationally established ebook distribution company Bookwire in Germany. Prior to creating to this platform, he was managing director of MFM Entertainment, a service to the music industry specialized in artist management, marketing cooperations and digital distribution. At the early days of his career, he was an art director for media products, so that by creating Bookwire, he returned to his initial industry.

“Case Study: Think Globally, Middleman!”
Not a week goes by on the digital market that doesn’t bring with it a technical innovation, a new sales channel, a new business model or a new marketing tool to which a content provider needs to react. How does the role of middleman change in a global content market? What kind of challenges do service providers face to help publishers sustain in a market in which the separation of content from the printed book has a lasting impact on product strategy, production, marketing and distribution of book content? The workshop gives insight into new and upcoming content business models as well as marketing tools and services in the disruptively changing environment of the book industry.

Dr. Perry Moree, Brill, NL

Before joining academic publisher Brill in Leiden, The Netherlands, in 2010 as CFO, Perry Moree (1960) was Director of Finance and Corporate Services of the National Library of the Netherlands (KB) in The Hague. Moree studied History and Economics at Leiden University and got his PhD degree in Maritime History in 1998. His previous jobs include teacher of Economics, financial manager and Head of Finance of the Academic Medical Centre (AMC) in Amsterdam. His current position is Executive Vice President Finance and Operations (CFO) of Brill. He is an active author, specializing in the history of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and is chairing the Management and Marketing section of IFLA.

Panel “Weltbild, Polare, Chapitre, Virgin Megastore, Borders, Nook (Barnes & Noble):Causes and effects of a dramatic crisis in the business models and digital strategies of leading international book chains – a comparative discussion”
When the second largest German book chain, Weltbild, filed for insolvency in January 2014, commentators sought the causes of this failure in the complicated ownership structure and errors made in strategy and management. However, other big players in totally different markets had been struggling, and failing along very similar lines, like Polare in the Netherlands, Chapitre (and before it, Virgin Megastore) in France; even the dramatic drop in sales at Barnes & Noble’s initially lauded Nook in the US has common traits: Their business models and digital strategies have become challenges threatening the survival of players who previously dominated their various markets. The similarities and the differences of these cases will be the focus of an international panel of experts.

Edward Nawotka, Publishing Perspectives, USA

Ed Nawotka is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives, an online magazine for the international publishing industry that has been called “the BBC of the book world.” Prior to this, he worked as book columnist for Bloomberg News and daily news editor of Publishers Weekly. He’s also a widely published book critic and essayist, with work appearing in publications ranging from The New Yorker to Publishing Research Quarterly.

“Publishing’s Cold War: Traditional vs. Self-Publishing? Or Something In-between?”
Among authors, there is now an important question: Do I pursue a traditional publishing contract or do I go it alone? Or is there something in-between? There are a myriad of models available to authors today, from Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing to agent-led imprints to entrepreneurial enterprises within traditional publishing structures. In a broad and deep discussion, journalists Edward Nawotka and Porter Anderson will use real-world examples to explicate and explore several of these emerging avenues toward publication. They will look at the impact self-publishing is having on the global industry as a whole, offer ideas for best practices, and look how established publishers can best engage in this evolving and exciting marketplace.

Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK

Nigel Newton is the founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing. He was born and raised in San Francisco and is a dual citizen of the US and UK. He read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge. After working at Macmillan Publishers, he joined Sidgwick & Jackson. He left Sidgwick in 1986 to start Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury floated on The London Stock Exchange in 1994. Bloomsbury publishes 2000 books a year and employs 500 people. Bloomsbury authors include JK Rowling, David Guterson, Margaret Atwood, William Boyd, Daniel Goleman, Ben McIntyre, Kate Summerscale, Elizabeth Gilbert, Heston Blumenthal, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, William Dalrymple, David Kynaston and Khaled Hosseini. For ten years to 2012 Bloomsbury owned and ran Berlin Verlag. Nigel Newton serves as Chairman of The British Library Trust, President of Book Aid International, Chairman of The Charleston Trust, Member of the Man Booker Prize Advisory Committee, Trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is on the board of managers of Newton Vineyard in the Napa Valley.

Panel “State of Publishing 2020”
Each panel member will be asked to give a positioning statement, which will then be extended into his personal vision of the future. This will be followed by a Q/A session probably covering issues like:
Is self- publishing the future, and if so, what is the publisher’s role?
Are literary agents and Amazon fatally undermining the Big Five in consumer publishing?
Are social media the marketplace for recommendation and purchasing of all types?
Do we accept in global markets that territoriality, and attempts to control IP in the network,need to be replaced by new concepts? What are they likely to be?
In a networked world, with 3 billion participants today, will the book as a concept and format retain its place, or will we create different formats for networked entertainment and learning?
What will be the importance of brand in 2020 / Author brand, publisher/university press quality brand etc?
Will channel be important in 2020? And how will we try to control the channels through which we deliver value to our customers?Download the presentation here

Brian O’Leary, Magellan Media Consulting, USA

Brian O’Leary is principal of Magellan Media Consulting, which works with publishers seeking support in content workflows, benchmarking and financial analysis. He writes extensively about issues affecting the publishing industry. With Hugh McGuire, he has edited “Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto”, a collection of forward-looking essays on publishing that was published in 2012 by O’Reilly Media. He is also the author of research reports on: the use of metadata in the book industry supply chain; territorial rights in the digital age; and best practices in digital exports. O’Leary has studied the impact of free content and digital piracy on paid book sales and was the editor and primary contributor on a study of the use of XML in book publishing, two reports published by O’Reilly Media in 2009. Before he became a consultant, O’Leary served as senior VP and associate publisher with Hammond Inc., where he restructured editorial operations to benefit from the firm’s prior technology investments. O’Leary came to Hammond after a 12-year career overseeing production and distribution operations at several of Time Inc.’s weekly magazines, including Time, Entertainment Weekly and People. He joined Time Inc. after earning an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He also holds an A.B. in chemistry from Harvard College.

“An architecture of collaboration”
Physical supply chains promote efficiency: intermediaries aggregate supply and demand in ways that grow the market for providers and aggregators, though seldom in equal measure. The advent of digital media has afforded publishers an opportunity to embrace alternative packaging options, different business models and new discovery mechanisms, all of which could help publishers hedge against commodification in the face of aggregation.
Keeping up with these new options is a challenge. Writing platforms that started with the likes of Pandamian and Symtext have expanded to include Medium, Atavist, Wattpad and many others. Media that was once print, then eBooks, increasingly is web-based, where content creation is no longer tied to its ultimate presentation. Business models have expanded to include traditional as well as subscription, licensing, pay-as-you-go and other approaches to monetization. Discovery is tied at least in part to communities of readers that have been organized on platforms like Goodreads, Readmill and (once again) Wattpad.
In this environment, the market for reading may be expanding significantly, but the growth is taking place almost entirely outside the prevailing supply chain. To take advantage of this market growth, publishers need to develop an architecture of collaboration, exploring ways to engage with firm as well as readers and writers who can help them understand and offer new sources and uses of what was once just book content.

Panel “Weltbild, Polare, Chapitre, Virgin Megastore, Borders, Nook (Barnes & Noble):Causes and effects of a dramatic crisis in the business models and digital strategies of leading international book chains – a comparative discussion”
When the second largest German book chain, Weltbild, filed for insolvency in January 2014, commentators sought the causes of this failure in the complicated ownership structure and errors made in strategy and management. However, other big players in totally different markets had been struggling, and failing along very similar lines, like Polare in the Netherlands, Chapitre (and before it, Virgin Megastore) in France; even the dramatic drop in sales at Barnes & Noble’s initially lauded Nook in the US has common traits: Their business models and digital strategies have become challenges threatening the survival of players who previously dominated their various markets. The similarities and the differences of these cases will be the focus of an international panel of experts.

Fabrice Piault, Livres Hebdo, F

Fabrice Piault, 54, is the deputy Editor in Chief of Livres Hebdo, the French book trade weekly magazine and website, where he has been working for 25 years, after a couple of years at the Agence France Presse (AFP). He is graduated in History and Political Sciences (Paris 1-Sorbonne University) and in Journalism (Centre de formation des journalistes, Paris). He is also the author of the essay Le livre, la fin d’un règne (The Book, The End of a Reign, Stock, 1995). (Picture: (C) Olivier Dion)

Panel “Weltbild, Polare, Chapitre, Virgin Megastore, Borders, Nook (Barnes & Noble):Causes and effects of a dramatic crisis in the business models and digital strategies of leading international book chains – a comparative discussion”
When the second largest German book chain, Weltbild, filed for insolvency in January 2014, commentators sought the causes of this failure in the complicated ownership structure and errors made in strategy and management. However, other big players in totally different markets had been struggling, and failing along very similar lines, like Polare in the Netherlands, Chapitre (and before it, Virgin Megastore) in France; even the dramatic drop in sales at Barnes & Noble’s initially lauded Nook in the US has common traits: Their business models and digital strategies have become challenges threatening the survival of players who previously dominated their various markets. The similarities and the differences of these cases will be the focus of an international panel of experts.

Eric Razenberg, ThiemeMeulenhoff, NL

Eric Razenberg (45) was appointed CEO of Netherlands based educational publisher ThiemeMeulenhoff in March 2013 and was asked to define a new strategic course for the company. Since then ThiemeMeulenhoff he has been on a mission to reinvent learning and make it more personal, efficient and effective, working closely with teachers, students and schools. ThiemeMeulenhoff strives to let talents flourish by redesigning the process of learning, connecting innovative technologies with didactic content and smart learning designs. It’s (digital) learning solutions aren’t limited to the Dutch market, but are increasingly being licensed and applied internationally.

“The latest developments in educational publishing and personalized learning”
The session will cover:
– the reinvention of educational publishing in the digital age
– the valuable benefits to students, teachers and institutions
– the emergence of personalisation and adaptive learning
– the role of platforms and analyticsDownload the presentation slides here

Ronald Schild, MVB, GER

Ronald Schild (43) studied business administration in Germany, France and Great Britain. He began his career as a product manager in the consumer goods business in London. In 1997, he moved to Frankfurt to head the new e-business division of the German branch of Lexmark. This led to him taking over as Chairman of the Board of EMB AG, a firm of management consultants that specializes in e-business, and in 2005 becoming head of Amazon’s partners’ program Merchants@. Since 2006, Ronald Schild has been Managing Director of the MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH, which is an economic subsidiary of the Börsenverein, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association in 2006. One of the key projects during his tenure as CEO was the successful launch of libreka!, the e-book platform of the German book trade.

“The Future of the ISBN”
The ISBN has dramatically transformed supply chain management in the book trade. For almost 50 years, it has created efficiencies that are rarely found in other industries. With the advent of ebooks and digital content, the ISBN has to adapt to remain the backbone of the supply chain. This workshop discusses the value the ISBN as an identifier can bring to digital content and its discovery. Learn how to correctly use the ISBN in relation to other identifiers, how it correlates with publisher backend systems and what enhancements are planned for the ISBN standard in the future.

Bob Stein, The Future of the Book, USA

Bob Stein has been engaged with electronic publishing full-time since 1980, when he spent a year researching and writing a paper for Encyclopedia Britannica — “EB and Intellectual Tools of the Future”. In 1984 he founded The Criterion Collection, a critically acclaimed series of definitive films, which included the first supplementary sections and director commentaries and introduced the letterbox format. He also founded the Voyager Company, which in 1989 published one of the first commercially viable CD-ROMs, The CD Companion to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In 1992 Voyager published the first electronic books, including Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. In 2004 The Macarthur Foundation provided a generous grant with which Stein founded the Institute for the Future of the Book, a small think & do tank aimed at exploring and influencing the evolution of new forms of intellectual expression. In 2005 the Institute published the first “networked books”, which were instrumental in the recognition of the important shift to social reading and writing as discourse moves from printed pages to networked screens. Currently Stein and his partners are building a comprehensive platform for social reading.

“The Social Book Alpha”
The reification of ideas into printed, persistent objects obscures the social aspect of both reading and writing, so much so, that our culture portrays them as among the most solitary of behaviors. This is because the social aspect traditionally takes place outside the pages — around the water cooler, at the dinner table and on the pages of other publications in the form of reviews or references and bibliographies. In that light, moving texts from page to screen doesn’t make them social so much as it allows the social components to come forward and to multiply in value. Our grandchildren will assume that reading with others, i.e. social reading, is the “natural” way to read. They will be amazed to learn that in our day reading was something one did alone. Reading by one’s self will seem as antiquated as silent movies are to us.

Matt Turner, MarkLogic, USA

Matt Turner is the CTO, Media and Publishing at MarkLogic where he develops strategy and solutions for the Media, Publishing and Information Provider markets. Matt works closely with organizations around the world including McGraw-Hill, Warner Bros., Conde Nast and LexisNexis, has been published in the HS DAM MandE Journals and spoken at HITS, HS DAM, PubExpo, Gilbane and SIIA. Before joining MarkLogic, Matt was at Sony Music and PC World Online developing digital strategy and creating content delivery applications.

“Reinvention, Revolution and Revitalization: Real Life Tales from Publishing’s Front Lines”
As the information provider and publishing industries maintain a constant state of change, leading organizations are developing unique innovation and product strategies. This session will explore these strategies, including:Innovation Hubs: enabling new products while maintaining the core
(1) Data driven publishing: the complete picture of your users and markets
(2) Follow the content: where your information is used beyond the touch points of publishing and research
With examples from the front lines of publishers and information providers, this session will discuss how these strategies are allowing organizations to reinvent themselves in the continuing digital revolution and bringing new vitality to the ever changing role of publisher and information provider.Check out the presentation slides here

Marcello Vena, RCS Libri, Italy

Marcello Vena manages the digital trade book business of RCS Libri, one of the largest European book publishers and owner of Rizzoli, Bompiani and Fabbri Editori. He has 17 years of digital innovation experience across three continents (Europe, US & Asia), encompassing the roles of designer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, management consultant and general manager. He holds an MBA with Dean’s List Distinction from INSEAD (France, Singapore) and a MS of Electronics Engineering. He speaks all five main languages of Western Europe.

“How to Meet the Goal of Radical Innovation”
Radical innovation enables successful adopters to gain long-term sustainable competitive advantages that can hardly be matched by followers. A radical innovation approach to digital book publishing can boost the ongoing industry transformation. Innovative publishers have a unique opportunity to stay ahead of the game by finding and exploiting the best ways to connect authors to readers.Download the presentation slides here

Rüdiger Wischenbart, Content and Consulting, AT

Rüdiger Wischenbart, born in 1956 in Graz, Austria, is the founder of “Content and Consulting” (since 2003), and a writer specialized in culture, cultural industries, the global book markets, innovation in the book industry, literature, media, and communication. Most recently, he researched and (co-)authored several reports on global publishing markets, notably the “Global eBook” report, the “Global Publishing Markets” survey for the International Publishers Association” (IPA), and the “Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry”, updated annually since 2007 (initiated by Livres Hebdo, France, and co-published by The Bookseller, UK, buchreport, Germany, PublishNews Brazil, and Publishers Weekly, US). Wischenbart co-authored the “Diversity Reports” 2010, 2009 and 2008 mapping translation markets and cultures across Europe. He serves as director for international affairs to BookExpo America and coordinates its “Global Market Forum”. www.wischenbart.com

„Print drops. Ebooks rise. Publishers consolidate. Markets and channels shift. Current Developments of the European Publishing Market – data and trends“
These are turbulent times in the book markets across Europe, with similar challenges everywhere, and yet significant specifics for each market and each player. Based on recent data and an analysis of key players and channels across major European markets, this presentation aims at mapping current trends and developments, based on a broad body of research from the “Global eBook” report 2014 (www.global-ebook.com).Download the presentation here

Industry specialists’ opening and closing remarks and moderators

Jens Bammel, International Publishers Association, CH

Jens Bammel became Secretary General of the International Publishers Association in September 2003. He studied law in Berlin, Geneva and Heidelberg. Following two years of legal training in Germany, France and Indonesia he joined the Periodical Publishers Association as Head of Legal Affairs, then Head of Legal and Public Affairs. In June 1998 Jens Bammel was appointed Chief Executive of the Publishers Licensing Society Ltd., the organisation that represents UK publisher interests in collective reprographic licensing in the United Kingdom.

Helmut von Berg, Klopotek, GER

Helmut von Berg has been a Director at Klopotek & Partner GmbH since 2004. He has hosted the “Forum Herstellung im Verlag” conference series since 2005 and initiated the “Publishers’ Forum” in 2009. During his many years managing production and publishing processes, he has held positions such as head of production, material scheduling and purchasing at Droemer Weltbild in Munich and head of production at Droemer Knaur and Walter de Gruyter. Prior to that he was a managing partner of an offset printing company. He headed the Berlin Production Workshop, a group that dealt with the development of benchmarks for processes and workflows. He is active as a consultant for business process analysis and is co-coordinator of the Frankfurt Book Fair’s publishing production forum (“Forum Verlagsherstellung”).

Ehrhardt F. Heinold, Heinold, Spiller & Partner, GER

Ehrhardt F. Heinold, born on 27.12.1961, studied history, sociology and German language and literature in Hamburg and has years of freelance experience as an editor, journalist, seminar instructor and consultant. He has been a managing partner at the consultancy firm Heinold, Spiller & Partner Unternehmensberatung GmbH BDU located in Hamburg. He heads the e-consulting department and has supervised numerous consulting and professional development projects in the field of publication and content management. Heinold has been running the blog http://publishing-business.blogspot.com since 2007. Heinold is the founder and organizer of the annual symposium CrossMediaForum which has been taking place since 2002.Heinold is the author and publisher of specialist studies and articles (“Publishers Online”, “Trade Journals Online”, “Media-neutral Publishing”, “Trade Publishers on the Internet” and “Production in Publishing – Status quo and Perspectives”, “Market Study of Cross Media Editorial Systems” and “Change Management in Specialist Publishers. Example – Introducing an Editorial System”), and co-author of the book “Business E-volution” (Gabler / Vieweg 2000). In addition, he has given numerous presentations on content management, cross media, electronic publishing and social media. Heinold is a course instructor at the Akademie des Deutschen Buchhandels (head of the certified training course Project Manager E-Publishing ADB, “Selecting and Implementing Content Management Systems” among other things).Further information can be found at www.hspartner.de.

Ulrich Klopotek von Glowczewski, Klopotek, GER

Having developed software for publishers since 1985, Ulrich Klopotek von Glowczewski founded Klopotek & Partner GmbH in 1992. The company, which is focused on publishing solutions and innovative technology, is today the chosen service provider for many leading international publishing groups. Klopotek software is used all over the world especially in the most important publishing markets in Continental Europe, the UK, and in the United States. Always focused on developing new strategies and solutions for the media industry, he created the Publishers‘ Forum in 2004 as an annual industry event to advance the discussion between publishers, service providers and academic institutions.

Eric Reiss, Klopotek North America, USA

Eric Reiss has been a Senior Consultant with Klopotek North America since 2008, assisting publishing clients with business analysis and implementation of software solutions. His specialties include online business, subscription management and marketing. In 2005 he joined Klopotek as Director of Sales Support where he engaged with customers and prospective clients and consulted on appropriate solutions for their needs. Prior to joining Klopotek, Eric worked in the publishing industry, most recently with Taylor & Francis, specializing in business application management and business intelligence. While in the industry as a Klopotek customer Eric served as President of the Klopotek North America User Group (formerly Global Turnkey Systems User Group) for many years.

Katja Splichal, Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart

Katja Splichal is the head of the learning management systems / online publishing division at Eugen Ulmer in Stuttgart. Her studies in book trade and publishing management at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences were followed by stints with content-press, and as an associate lecturer at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz and at her alma mater. In 2011, she joined PaperC GmbH as Head of Media Relations and Product Development before joining her current employer. Katja is also a qualified dog trainer.

Klaus-Peter Stegen, Klopotek, GER

Klaus-Peter Stegen is an all-rounder with more than 30 years publishing experience in every sector of the industry and a competent advisor for every kind of process and service. He has been Chairman of the Managing Board at Klopotek & Partner GmbH since April 2014.
The experienced publishing expert was most recently employed as a management and HR consultant by TGMC Management Consulting GmbH in Hamburg. He also assisted the Bibliographical Institute – part of the Franz Cornelsen Education Group – as a consultant and interim Sales and Marketing Manager during their reorientation and move from Mannheim to Berlin. Stegen’s career includes management roles at Otto Schmidt, VVA/Bertelsmann, Haufe, Medien Union, and Oetinger as well as companies in the paper industry.
He is a member of the Board of Advisors for Bosch-Druck GmbH in Landshut and a lecturer at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. [Bild: (C) by Fotostudio Berlin | Fotografin Annette Koroll]

Rüdiger Wischenbart, Content and Consulting, AT

Rüdiger Wischenbart, born in 1956 in Graz, Austria, is the founder of “Content and Consulting” (since 2003), and a writer specialized in culture, cultural industries, the global book markets, innovation in the book industry, literature, media, and communication. Most recently, he researched and (co-) authored several reports on global publishing markets, notably the “Global eBook” report, the “Global Publishing Markets” survey for the International Publishers Association”, (IPA), and the “Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry”, updated annually since 2007 (initiated by Livres Hebdo, France, and co-published by The Bookseller, UK, buchreport, Germany, PublishNews Brazil, and Publishers Weekly, US). Wischenbart co-authored the “Diversity Reports” 2010, 2009 and 2008 mapping translation markets and cultures across Europe. He serves as director for international affairs to BookExpo America and coordinates its “Global Market Forum”. www.wischenbart.com

David Worlock, Consultant, UK

Alongside his advisory work for investors and industry players, David Worlock chairs Outsell’s Global Leadership Councils, a member-service for CEOs and senior executives of media publishing and information provider firms. David founded Electronic Publishing Services Ltd. (EPS) in 1985, a research and consultancy company working with the digital content industry in developing strategies for products and markets in consumer and business sectors. Outsell acquired EPS in 2006. David received his degree in History from the University of Cambridge.